(Back to normal time, 11:00 Pm)
As the slow songs kept playing, Cinder and Kai kept dancing. She had no clue as to why Iko was playing so many slow songs in a row, or why she wasn't getting any complaints. Maybe it had something to do with all the theater that were watching them like they were part of a movie.
Cinder thought Iko described it with the words "ship" and "canon" for some reason.
Anyway, Iko played four, possibly five slow songs consecutively before changing the mood of the dance. Of course, that mood went back to crazy, upbeat songs.
And of course, Kai tried to dance to them, ending up looking like a crazed scarecrow on drugs.
At that point, Cinder only stood in the mist of the dance and watched Kai, shaking her head. "Why did I agree to come to this dance with you?"
He said something that was drowned out by the music. Upon completing his sentence, his face flushed. "What?" Cinder called out. "I didn't catch that."
He stopped, and scratched the back of his head, a tad nervous. "I said, 'Because we're friends and we're bonding'!"
Right off the bat, Cinder knew that was a lie. She could just tell with people when they were fibbing. But she wasn't about to push it. Not tonight, when everything was going so well. Stars, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a crowd this large and was having this much fun. Probably because those things had never really gone hand in hand for her.
"So," Kai began, still flushed. "Would you want to do this again sometime?"
Cinder's nose scrunched, though a smile was still plastered to her face. "I don't think the Drama club is going to host another dance anytime soon, Kai."
He chuckled slightly. "That's not really what I meant. I mean, would you ... would you ever want to-"
An evil figure loomed behind Kai and gripped his shoulders, pulling him to them. Her pink dress tight around her body as it only reached her knees. Her high heels making her inches taller than Kai.
Levana kissed Kai, albeit against his will, and held her eyes open so she might see Cinder's rage inflame. And oh, how Cinder's anger grew. Her jaw set in a snarl and her eyes narrowed. The kiss only lasted a few heartbeats, and Kai pushed Levana off of him.
"What the heck, Levana?!" Kai barked. He wiped his mouth on his sleeves to get Levana's poison off his lips. All the while Cinder was biting back a hundred words of disposition. Cinder got the funny idea that her heels might be hard and sharp enough to penetrate Levana's thick skull.
The evil queen smirked and faced Cinder. "Face it, Cinder. He's mine, and you're never gonna get a shot. After all, he's Kaito Freaking Huang. And he's worth ten times more than you'll ever be."
Acid ebbed at the tissue in Cinder's throat. Her eyes burned, for she could not tear up. She felt the heat of her rage surface on her skin. Her teeth ground one another so far they were nearly nothing but dust in her mouth.
Though her rage was on the verge of explosion, depression filled her lungs. Though Levana was a lying piece of garbage, Cinder knew ... she was right.
She knew she didn't deserve to be friends with Kai, though Levana meant more of an intimate relationship. Cinder would never get close enough to being worthy of such a high title as "Kai's Girlfriend". She was a lonely orphan, a worthless girl who never meant anything to anyone. She had no redeeming qualities, her personality sucked, and she was no where near as beautiful as someone like Winter. No one wanted her. All of her friends were going to leave her for far better people.
Why was Kai even acknowledging that she existed?
She could see Kai bellowing at Levana, though the words were lost in Cinder's ears. She just wanted to get out of here. How could she ever think that for even one night, she could be a star.
She would never be brighter than the dirt on the ground.
Cinder dodged the dancing students and weaved her way out of the crowd. She didn't know how she would get home. Maybe she could call an Uber or something. But she was not riding home with Kai. Not when she knew what he would be eager to discuss with her during the ride.
While making her way out of the gym, someone decide to stick their leg out into path of people walking around. What an amazing idea! In doing so, they tripped Cinder, and she tumbled. Landing on her side, she felt one of her shoes come off. She cursed and pushed herself off the floor so she could sit upright.
On her heels – no pun intended – were Kai and Levana. Like Cinder hadn't seen enough of that witch's face tonight. Kai had the eyes of a worried, sad puppy. He watched her with pity as she stumbled to her feet with her one heeled shoe. Quickly, Kai bent down and retrieved Cinder's shoe. As Cinder used all of her will power to balance on her one foot, Kai approached her, holding her shoe out to her like a strange present.
She refused to meet his eyes, but took her shoe back from him. All she wanted was to get away from this. This night had been wonderful, and half of it had just been Cinder and Kai talking in his car. What their conversation was on, she couldn't remember for the life of her. Yet, she knew how it made her feel. Talking with Kai made her feel snarky, sassy, adventurous, and delighted all at once. She didn't deserve it, and Kai made her feel something amazing.
And let us just emphasize, that Levana struck first. You're probably wondering what that means, but you'll know in a bit.
Cinder hadn't realized that Kai hadn't let go of her shoe when she took it. They were both holding it, and Kai was staring into her eyes. At first, Cinder was back in her Post Kai's-Dad-incident mindset. Cautious of Kai and his actions, hoping to stay away from him as much as possible. After a few seconds, she warmed up to it, and she stood there. Waiting patiently for Kai to let go of her shoe so she could put it back on.
When Cinder looked up, she could see Kai's lips moving, though his words were wrapped up in the noise around them. Levana, on the other hand, must have heard him, because her expression took on the rage Cinder still had built up inside.
She screamed in anger and lunged for Cinder, gripping her wrist and held up her free hand to strike Cinder. Cinder held down a yelp from the pain that surged from her contact with Levana. She bit her tongue and dodged the presumed slap that Levana was serving. Still biting down the agony of the grip, Cinder tried and tried to rip herself free from it.
And Levana used all of her will to hold onto her.
If Cinder hadn't been burning with pain, she would have made some sarcastic remark about how good Levana was at fighting. Because since grabbing onto her, she'd managed to hit Cinder zero times.
Now, Cinder was not a fighter, and she didn't want to hit Levana. But there was so much agony accumulating in her wrist that she couldn't move her hand. That was a sign that she needed her medicine. Which she could only take if Levana let her go.
With her free hand, Cinder snagged her shoe out of Kai's grip completely and smacked it against the side of Levana's head. It got her to let Cinder go, though she only hit her hard enough to stun her and not knock her unconscious. The idea of knocking her out cold rang like sweet bells in Cinder's ears. Still, hitting her that hard in front of the kids at the dance was not as appealing.
Dazed from the hit, Levana released Cinder. She took the chance to book it out of the gym. Somehow, she put her shoe back on while running, a task you kids should not try because you will most likely fall flat on you face.
Behind her, Cinder heard Levana's screaming and Kai's calls of worry. Both of them wanted to get to her, for very different reasons. Cinder didn't look back, not even when Levana let out a shriek able to deafen any normal human.
She got into one of the classrooms and leaned against the door with her entire body weight. Someone pounded on the door, asking to be allowed inside. Cinder was too busy keeping the door closed to let them in, if that made any sense.
Opening her purse, she silently thanked Iko and pulled the medication she always kept with her out. She poured one pill out and forced it into her mouth. Swallowing it, she waited for the pain to be relieved. She sat, and felt the fire on her skin fester and crackle, but the pain did not go away. Thinking it wasn't enough to stop the reaction, Cinder took another pill.
That was a really bad idea. Cinder forgot that, and that's why what happened next was so horribly wrong. Because taking more medication than in prescribed is a bad, bad thing to do.
Cinder's stomach lurched and twisted in her gut. The pounding on the door faded as her eyes spun around in their sockets. Her skeleton felt like liquid, and her brain squeezed and expanded to the point where she was nostalgic for the burning, tormenting sensation in her wrist. And it was at that moment Cinder knew, she screwed up.